End of an Era

Chapter 2

After about and hour or so of mutual lessons, Roy and Marth both leave to get some lunch. I call to ask them to save me some as I shut the door, returning the book I was translating to the shelf, and ignoring the tens, if not hundreds, of crumpled papers now scattered across the floor. Most of which simply covered with tic-tac-toe games, or with burn marks from Roy losing his temper.

Walking over to the armoire, I open the door and pull out my bath robe sitting on the bottom shelf. Stepping back I remove my hat and toss it onto the bed, running my fingers through my blonde hair; the strands matted to my head from my fight earlier, and not feeling pleasant.

Shrugging off the sensation, I step into the bathroom whistling slightly. One of the tunes I learned while going back and forth through Ti—

Shutting the door behind me, I look around the small, familiar space. I don't bother locking the door behind me, or the identical one across the chamber; no one has that room yet so there's no need. I look in the mirror for a moment with my hair all messed and dirty, smirking as I turn to open the faucets. I strip as I wait for the water to heat up, pulling the small lever to change the course towards the shower head.

This type of indoor plumbing hadn't been as huge a shock. The Castle in Hy-- I'd seen similar heating systems before, although showers were new. The soaps and shampoos still make me dizzy though, 'Garden Freshness,' what twisted garden smell like that?

Doesn't matter though, I've adjusted to the odd stenches, and just stop breathing through my nose when it comes time too wash my hair. I also close my eyes as I scrub, having learned the hard way that this stuff not only stinks, but burns like hell if it gets in your eyes!

Rinsing, I stop the water and dry off with the towel I brought inside. Putting on the bath robe and tying it securely, I open the door to step into my room and get—

" Hilo, Link!" a bright pink puff-ball exclaims, bouncing around on my bed and giggling the whole while. I blink a few times standing there, not quick too forget that I'm only wearing a robe, the towel over my arm.

"Hey, Kirby," I reply, wondering how the runt got inside. "You need something? I'm kinda busy at the moment." Kirby just keeps giggling and bouncing up and down, jumping a bit too high, and hitting the ground with a loud 'thud'.

"Owiee..." He whimpers, I just roll my eyes with a sigh,

"Well, that's what you get for jumping on the bed,"

"Eight little monkies jumpin' on the bed! One fell off and bumped his head! Momma called the doctor and the doctor said; 'No more monkies jumpin' on the bed!'" Kirby shouts, having fully recovered from the fall. I beat back a scowl as he continues jumping around my room,

"Kirby," I say with a slight edge.

"Aww, no fun..." He pouts, not liking that I won't play along with him at the moment. Din's Fire, I just got out of the shower!

"Doctor Mario sent me." the puff-ball explains, finally halting the jumping, and plopping down on the messy floor. "He's worried about you fighting so soon after--"

"Tell the Doctor I'm fine." I say simply, wanting the runt out so I can get changed. "It may be the worst, but I'm still not dead. If I could win my match against Falco, then that should prove that I'm alright." With that, I keep one hand at the ties, and use the other too shoo Kirby out of my room. Knowing him he probably just flew in the window, I hadn't realized it was open before.

"But, Link!" Kirby whines,

"No buts," I snap, "Go and play with Ness or something, I'm busy right now."

"What about lunch? Yours is still sitting out there." He complains; his eyes bright and sparkling as he looks up at me, half-way out the door. Something about Kirby just irritates me. After Tingle y'think I'd be used too childish behavior, but Kirby's just too much.

"Eat it, I'm not hungry." I say with a scowl, giving him a last little shove before shutting the door as he turns around so say something else.

I hear a high pitched 'THANK YOU, LINK!' from behind the door, and cringe. Kirby meant to say Thank you, but he tried saying it in Hylian so it came out… Never mind… Maybe trying to teach the formal language to Kirby and Ness wasn't the smartest idea. Peach would come at me with a golf-club if she understood what they were saying by accident…

With my back against the door, I feel a small amount of pain along my upper left arm. Rubbing the skin gently through my robe, I walk back over to my dresser and start pulling out a change of cloths. A clean shirt and my red Tunic ought to suffice for now.

"Damn it," I mutter, half-dressed and looking over to see a bit of red creeping through the sleeve of my robe. Easing the damp garment off, I walk over to my night-stand and rummage through the top drawer. Pulling out a few rolls of gauze and a pair of scissors, I sit down and tend to the wound. Not thinking on it to much as I wrap it and finish getting dressed.

Grabbing my red hat from its peg on my wall, I leave my room and start off down the hall. Part of me would like to go for a walk through the gardens, but I beat back that urge and start off for the hospital ward. Falcon and Bowser have laundry duties this week, and I don't know about the tortes, but the Captain's not about to let a blood-stain go unheard of. It's better if I just go myself. Feeling oddly down, I simply continue down the halls, nodding to the people in the Lounge. Mario and his brother Luigi busy watching a Tennis game while the four people I was supposed to meet with earlier talk about propulsion systems over poker.

"Hey, Link." I look up as my name is called, stopping short at Donkey Kong blocking the hall in front of me. The huge shaggy ape, a dark robin red, his shoulders almost brushing against the walls.

"Hey, D.K." I reply with slightly forced cheer. Knowing it's impossible to get past the mammoth Smasher in the tiny space, I start walking back towards the Lounge to let him through. "How were the Multimen?" my smile's almost genuine as the ape groans noticeable.

"One Banana bunch, and I'm in bed; those wire-frame clones sure pack a punch…" he moans, nodding to me as he continues past, the hall now open for him. "You headed to the Sick Ward?" He asks; I raise one eyebrow, not replying until I find out how he knew. Then again, D.K. isn't very deep, so the answer's probably very simple.

"I was just there about half an hour ago," the ape continues, "The others were right about him; all skinny, and looking like a drowned rat. He was still out cold when I was there, but Doctor Mario's convinced he'll wake up soon, you goin' down to greet him?"

"Yeah, I guess," I say, my interest waking up, most Smashers don't come in through the sick-ward. "So it's another guy? Peach isn't gonna like that; she's dying for another dress-wearing girl to come." I snicker slightly, pausing as I feel a pair of eyes glaring at me from behind a green visor. Okay, okay, I get the point; but Samus doesn't act very feminine most of the time.

"If he wakes up while you're down there, tell him I'll be glad to go easy on him first day in the Arena." D.K. chuckles, I smile and nod, the Ape having cleared the door and looking back around the corner at me, where there's a bit more room for him to move. Eagar to get away from a certain Bounty Hunter's glare, I quickly step back into the hallway and continue along the carpeted corridors.

'Talk to the doctor, check on the new Smasher; sounds like a plan.'


"Let Peach a-go!" A stunted man in a white stiff coat shouts, a leather strap around his temples with a metal disk attached to it reflecting the odd light at different angles. His thick brown hair looks frazzled as I don't loosen my grip on the other woman. Having resumed my guise as Sheik, it's a bit easier too move around, the clothing tighter around my chest and providing added support for my ribs.

"I won't hurt her," I snap, "As long as you tell me how to get out of this place, and back to Hyrule!" I twist the blonde's arm a bit more, she make a small sound in the back of her throat and shifts. She sounds more miffed than hurt, but it helps to get my point across.

"And here I was," She huffs, "Believing Link when he said Hyrulians are all well mannered and calm!"

"Do as I-a say!"

"W-what!" I say; my eyes wide in shock as I spin the other Princess around. She defiantly is angry, her round face scrunched up as if she wants to bite my nose.

"You heard me!" She snaps, "You're confused, and totally out of line! We are not your enemies, and I am not your hostage!" With her arms pinned to her sides, her words are surprising, but not what I meant. I don't have time to ask my question though as she brings her hands up; a small man, wearing a blue vest and odd pants, a large, red poka-dot mushroom on his head, appears and begins smacking me viciously. Startled, I let go of her and back up, accidentally ramming into the small side-table that had been near my bed. I keep myself standing with one hand on the wall as the items topple to the floor, the strange thin metal bending where I ran into it. I wrap one arm around my ribs again, feeling a tinge of pain.

"Did you say, Link?" I breathe, my eyes going narrow as I wait for her to reply, for some reason feeling a strange calm. Standing straight, I watch her, a few of my slim needles sliding down my sleeve towards my waiting hands. I have no intention of using them, but they could prove intimidating.

"Oh no you don't!" She huffs, stamping her foot up and down in anger, the small man having vanished in a puff of smoke. "Why should I answer you after all of that!"

Her point is valid, but that doesn't really matter! I need answers and I need them now! Every moment I spend here, another person dies!

All three of us look around as a small buzz goes off, the echo of a door opening and closing, and the dull thumping of heavy boots clearly coming down the hall towards us.

"Doctor Mario?" A voice calls. My eyes widen dramatically, my fingers going lax and the few needles fall to the floor, my balance faltering as I drop back against the wall. My dreams- my visions the only real connection I have to the mature, deepened voice.

"In here!" The short man calls. I stare at the doorway for a moment, half-noticing Peach standing there looking back and forth between myself in the door. Her face scrunching up again as she feels ignored.

"Hey!" She whines; I don't even spare her a glance. Waiting too see the impossible.

He's almost to hard too recognize… His face having lost all of its childish roundness, that mischievous glint in his sapphire eyes as brilliant as ever. His blonde hair has darkened noticeably over the years, and it's still held back in the same way by his cap. A long red one to match the vibrant Tunic he's wearing. Stout leather boots and fine gloves of a better cut and quality than the ones he wore before. He has been living fairly comfortably these past seven years. The only things missing are his sword and shield, but I suppose he does not fear constant monster attacks at any moment in this place. I doubt he's missed a meal or a night's sleep in months.

Should I be happy to see him so well? Should I smile and walk over to him, shed this guise he knows is mine and make like a good friend? Ask him about his life these past years and be happy?

I hope not. Because I would rather die than approach him in that fashion. The bright red of his tunic is the wrong colour right now; he shouldn't be wearing the colour of blood. Blood spilt by innocent children as monsters tore through their small bodies. The same crimson washed away by the rains called to a land doomed by its hero's failure. His failure for not coming when the people, who looked to him for courage, were cut down by the evil he didn't defeat the first time!

He shouldn't be wearing red, it will make it that much harder too tell how badly he is bleeding.

"Die," I whisper, tears of furry building in my eyes, blurring my vision. His face looking lost as he sees me standing there. "You filthy coward; you who damns his own people!" I lunge at him instantly, speeding past the other two in the room with one fist drawn back to strike him.

Just as I get there he closes his eyes, not as if to brace himself, as if he simply doesn't want to look at me. I hit him with enough force to break his jaw, his head snapping to the side and he stumbles slightly. He doesn't defend himself or strike back as I come at him again.

"How dare you!" I scream, aiming my knee for his gut, he doubles over at the hit, and I get ready to attack his neck. But this time he moves; ducking and rolling to get away from me, he takes hold of the door-frame, half-keeping himself up as he stares straight down at the floor, a bit of blood from his mouth dripping down to his feet. I only advance more though, "How could you leave us all to die like that? Leave our land defenseless?"

"Stop that!" Peach shrieks, the doctor speechless as the other woman places herself between the Traitor and myself. "Get a hold of yourself! What makes you think Link has to defend your country, and where do you get off calling him of all people a coward?"

I've never struck another woman before, not out of anger. But in an instant the other Royal is on the ground, holding her cheek where I back-handed her. I doubt she's so weak as to be brought down by a slap; but whatever stuns her for the moment is more than enough to satisfy me.

"Stand up." I order, glaring at his bent form. For a moment he doesn't move, then slowly straightens up. I allow my alternate appearance to fade away, the scum from the River still tangled into my hair and clothing, but compared to his clean, well kept self, I'm sure the contrast will be felt. He doesn't even meet my eyes.

"Look at me." Again, he hesitates for a moment, before lifting his head. His eyes are still closed though. My tears are dry as I feel every inch the Royal I was raised from birth to be. With a flick of my wrist a small portion of Din's Fire speeds past him, striking the frame just behind him and exploding. He is thrown to the ground and skids across the floor a short ways with a grunt. The other woman gives a shriek and the doctor shouts in alarm; a large potion of the wall taken out by the blast, ugly black marks cutting across the remainder. I close my eyes and simply turn around, ignoring them both and keeping my attention on the 'Hero' of Time.

"I said look at me." I say crisply. "Now stand up and do as I command."

"Don't a-do it, Link!" The short man cries, rushing up from his spot. He throws something brightly colored towards me, which I see through the corner of my eye. Instantly I take hold of the power I possess, allowing Nayru's Love to form a barrier around me; reflecting the projectile back at him. His own attack hits him in the face before he can react. He gives a small yelp, before an odd mist forms around him, his eyes rolling back in his head as he collapses into a heap.

"Dr. Mario! LINK!" The concern in Peach's voice changes to anger as she looks back at him. After the explosion, I watch as he pushes himself to his feet, having re-claimed his breath after my kick, and pausing just for a moment before looking at me. His eyes look so lost that for a moment I almost lose strength. I almost feel like he's a victim as well. I almost… I almost feel empathy for him… My childhood friend…

Almost…

"Do you know how many families have been slaughtered since you failed to return?" I ask, carefully watching his slowly swelling jaw. He doesn't answer, "Well?" I push,

"You broke his jaw, what do you expe—"

"…No." Peach looks shocked as he answers me. His face makes him appear to be in pain, I do not doubt that it is emotional as well as physical. But now isn't the time to acknowledge it. Too many of my people have died…

"Do you know, how many have perished, believing you would come?" His face twists, and he closes his eyes again, turning his face away from me. "Look at me, and answer." I demand.

"Z-Zelda—"

"Answer me." I repeat forcefully, taking a step towards him to intimidate a reply. He meets my eyes again, blood dribbles down his chin from his lip as, slowly, he shakes his head no.

"Well then," I say, my voice taught as I push any lasting notion of the other woman from my mind. "Do you know what has happened to the lands you swore to protect since you left?" Again, he shakes his head, claiming he doesn't know the answer. This one's a lie though, Hylian blood flows through his veins, he knows just as well as I do what's happening. He knows better than I do!

"Why?" I breathe; faces of the dead floating past my mind's eye. Princess Ruto; and hundreds of other Zora's dead in their own waters, washing into the flooded towns with the rain. Crops instantly withering in the toxic soil; being beaten down by the never ending torrent and wells become rancid. I hear the screams of hundreds of people as, even in the frigid rain; towns are somehow consumed by fires. Run-offs and rivers choked with the dead before the rising waters consumed dams, waves of sickening waters drowning the lower reaches of the land, thousands perishing from famine, flooding, and decease.

And the one at the heart of all this; refuses too say that he is even aware of the suffering.

"Why?" I repeat, "Our armies were at the ready. They knew when and where to strike. Why did they lack the last ounces of courage too do so!" I feel emotion bubbling up in my voice and try to swallow it, closing my own eyes as lowers his head again, "Answer me. Tell me, why did people give their lives in the belief that salvation would come, and then it didn't?" My eyes are stinging as my voice trembles, "Why didn't you come… Why didn't the Hero of Time return to Hyrule…? And what can you possibly tell me to justify that absence to the people who have all but been obliterated by it? Tell me!" I open my eyes as a sob breaks free, my vision blurred by tears, but not so much that I can't see where he is. On his knees in front of me; shaking almost as hard as I am, but he doesn't reply.

"Answer me." I say in a strangled tone. "Tell me why… Link, why?"

My senses pick up the other power a moment to late; and what feels like a giant hand grabs hold of me. I gasp slightly before finding I have no breath at all, the fingers squeezing me tightly until I choke. My blurred vision beings blacking out instantly, a faded cry of 'Master Hand!', the last thing to reach me before. Everything suddenly stops.


"Well, that was certainly unexpected." Master Hand scoffs, dropping Zelda to the ground, where she doesn't stir. I feel like I'm frozen on my hands and knees, no longer possessing the strength to stand up.

"Link?" Peach calls, having stood up and brushing her gown off. I don't reply and keep my eyes on the linoleum floor.

She hates me, so completely and utterly. I knew she would be angry, hurt, disappointed, betrayed… but I didn't think true hatred would become a factor. Am I even worth anything less than hatred though? Dreams of rain and storms have been haunting my sleep for weeks, and I never went back. I tried but—

"I was too weak…" I breathe, Master Hand and Peach speaking to one another as I hear Doctor Mario stir, fighting off the effects of his own sedatives. I dare to raise my head, seeing her unconscious on the floor just in front of me. Charred debris from the wall she damaged scattered next to her across the white-speckled surface. I remember seeing her this age before, when I was traveling through Ti— through Time. I have to stop pushing my past away, especially now that it's catching up to me…

But I remember her this way; exactly this way. Tired, angry, and tortured… Again, because of something I'd done… She isn't dead, if she was in the Hospital Ward then she was already injured, Master Hand must have just cut off her air to make her pass out. She's so pale though, like she hasn't seen the sun in weeks… Nayru, why did this have too happen?

"What do you mean she's staying?" Peach shrieks, pulling me from my thoughts as I see her, Dr. Mario, and Master Hand still speaking. She looks livid with her hands on her hips.

"Peach, calm-a down," Doctor Mario says soothingly, not that the Princess would hear of it.

"Calm down? Calm down? She's a menace!" Peach shouts, her face going red. "She wouldn't hear a word I had to say, and the moment I turn my back—WHAM!" She slaps her hands together to put emphasis on her words, the doctor frowning at her argument as Master Hand taps one of his white-gloved fingers on the floor. "We suddenly have a hostage situation, and then she goes ballistic on Link, totally unprovoked!"

I want to say something, but when I try speaking pain runs up the side of my face, as well as down my throat. How was she supposed to react?

"You don't have a say in this, Princess." Master Hand states calmly. His strong voice doesn't have an exact center, since he has no mouth. "This was a decisive choice made by myself and Crazy Hand. Princess Zelda and her Alternative Self are the new Smasher. It is not as if she could be sent back anyways."

Doctor Mario seems to have dropped out the conversation; kneeling next to Zelda and checking her pulse and other vital signs. He seems satisfied with her condition and moves over to me. I'm not that hurt, my jaw the only part of me in physical pain. I don't really acknowledge him there though, my eyes still on the injured Princess.

"Link," He says, waving one white-gloved hand in front of my face until I look at him. There is concern thick in his eyes as he looks at me, I swallow some of the blood filling my mouth and look back down, trying not too move too much as the action irritates the bone. With his hand on my arm, I push myself to my feet, wobbling slightly as my limbs feel like lead. I'm not injured but… I just feel so tired…

"Come on, I take you to another room, you is a bit hurt." The doctor pushes, noticing my lack of enthusiasm and simply taking charge. He gently prods my lower back to get me moving, but I strain my neck too keep my gaze on the woman I haven't seen in so many years.

"What do you mean she can't go back?" Peach hollers, over-stepping her bounds with Master Hand. The powerful Mansion Master growing annoyed.

"She cannot go back, because there are no lands too go back to!" He says in a booming voice.

The floor jumps up at me, smashing my face painfully as a small gasp works its way up. Dr. Mario calls my name in surprise as I fall, but I don't acknowledge him, shocked as I gasp for air. It's as if I can't breathe, everything spinning rapidly as I flip over, giving Master Hand a horrified look.

"No… Land?" I gasp, forcing my shattered jaw to move. "Hyru… Hyrule is…"

"Gone." Master Hand interrupts in a stern voice. "Vanished beneath the waves of a gargantuan flood. The Princess Zelda was seeing the final stragglers to the mountain havens when the bridge they were crossing went out. She fell into the river with attacking monsters and survivors, and it is only thanks to my intervention that she did not drown with the rest of them." His tone brigs no argument, it's a known fact that both Master and Crazy Hands loath having too ever explain themselves to us Smashers.

But… all of Hyrule… Flooded…? That's not… possible… If Ganon, or Ganondorf, whichever incarnation were to appear, they couldn't… Not even the Triforce of power could grant… The Goddesses wouldn't allow…

"Wait a minute," Peach murmurs; casting the fallen Zelda a glance, "Link's entire world is…" Her eyes go wide as she gasps slightly, one slim hand coming up over her mouth as she shakes her head violently from side to side.

"But Link is the-a Hero," Doctor Mario whispers, looking back at me, but I don't see him as my eyes have fallen again, this time to the chest of my red tunic. I glare at the material, as if to put the blame on it, "You is the Hero, why you-a not save them, Link?"

The last survivors? Does that include the Kokiri? There's no way the Zora's are benefiting. A flood would mean an expansion in their territories, but… nothing bent on Hyrule's destruction could ever aid one of the races… Jabu jabu wouldn't allow such a thing, such water… Not unless a wish of the full Triforce, or the will of the very Goddsses could—

No. The… the gods would never abandon Hyrule… They wouldn't forsake all those people… Whether or not I came shouldn't be the issue! Why didn't they simply chose a new hero? If there can't be two, then why didn't I just die!

Pain runs up my neck and along my jaw, fire racing through the fractures in the bone as I grit my teeth together. From head to foot I'm shaking, anger making my blood boil as no one seems ready to speak, not until—

"Link?"

"You knew." I snap, my words slurred together as I can't bring my mouth too open completely. The pain making me dizzy as I quickly force myself to my feet, I glare at the floor for a split second before facing Master Hand, "You knew what was happening… Both of you did," I accuse, feeling enraged yet helpless at the same time, "You baited me into making mistakes, you kept me here on purpose!"

I see the attack an instant to late, Peach giving a shriek as the two torpedoes hit me point-blank. Fire and Shrapnel fill the air as the explosions send a shock-wave throughout the entire building, every window and beaker shattering in unison as I'm thrown back. Crimson blood sails through the air in front of me as the force of impact sends me through the wall on the opposite side of the hall. Drywall and jip rock following as white dust fills the room after the fire dissipates.

My vision fades in and out as I find myself laying on my side; the fire-resistant cloth of my tunic having protected me from the flames, but not the shattered metal. It hurts to breathe as I hear Peach and Doctor Mario exclaim in alarm, calling my name as Master Hand appears in the gapping whole in the wall. Sounds mesh into one another as well as I don't have the strength to move my head in the slightest. The fatigue which has been bringing me down all day only compounding with the physical and emotional pain of everything else that's just happened…

"You know my rules," Master Hand states flatly, his voice echoing slightly as I try to regain my focus, my vision creeping into darkness. "No leaving the Mansion until you defeat myself and Crazy Hand together on the highest level of difficulty in Final Destination."

The last thing I can see; is an old memory… the Gates of Hyrule Castle open, and Zelda's face as she hands me the Ocarina. Smiling softly at me as the fading sunlight shines off of her, young, hopeful face…

"You have had seven years to do so, and your time has run out."


No, I do not think very highly of Peach. xD

Read and Review, please?